MBB: NESCAC

[fpc85]

who knows maybe he wil heal fast enough to contrbute but if not, it's all hands on deck. the jeffs have quality bench guys at the guard/wing position.

[eclinchy]

Courtside in Salem... not a Wheeler in sight.

[daoustian]

Decent quality video on the CSTV site for those of us who couldn't make it to Salem.  I've pre-emptively set the DVR to record the game on TV tomorrow.  Hopefully that doesn't jinx things.

[daoustian]

Why isn't Hixon taking out the starters with a 30-point lead and 7 minutes left? 

[jumpshot]

Amherst's win over Ursinus demonstrates that the NESCAC is one of the most competitive conferences in the country. As a general statement, much better passing and ball handling, defense, offensive sets, shooting, scheduling, parity, etc., compared to the Centennial Conference and many other leagues --and I have seen quite a few games this year in these and other D3 conferences.

[trinbant]

So, the 29-3 Ursinus Bears go 2-2 against the NESCAC on the year, with one game at home and 3 neutral site games.  The NESCAC has had 4 Final 4 teams since 1995 (Trinity, Conn, Williams, and Amherst).  Congrats to Amherst on a great run this year, and to all the NESCAC for the excellent level of play year in and year out for more than a decade...

I know there have been a lot of complaints about NESCAC not playing a home and home schedule over the years, but I venture to guess that a lot of teams that finish near the top of their conferences would have trouble winning 3 or 4 games in the NESCAC.

[fpc85]

                    I believe that Amherst has a team that is clearly good and has been dominating this division for sometime now.... however, Olsen does not get his credibilty from his defense and I wasn't calling him "wimpy" because I believe he is the whole key to Amherst's success the past few seasons, basically take him out of the mix no national title..... furthermore the other guards are wimpy and will be exposed by my boy from Urry, and Hopkins who is the biggest wimp of them all (literally) will be shut down by #41..... and when I say shut down I mean he will literally sing R Kelly's remake "Piss on you" to Hopkins as he throws at least one down on his face..... get ready for some nut juice

The Line remains at Amherst +2

                    Hope once again is going to be the clear favorite because I am NAstradmos and they will win by 6. Then win the national title.... any questions or comments will be unneccesary at this point since this post exceeds the intelligence of any other post on this site

your intelligence is amazing...what insight.

[uaapride]

well done, fpc, well done.

[deputy dog]

                    I believe that Amherst has a team that is clearly good and has been dominating this division for sometime now.... however, Olsen does not get his credibilty from his defense and I wasn't calling him "wimpy" because I believe he is the whole key to Amherst's success the past few seasons, basically take him out of the mix no national title..... furthermore the other guards are wimpy and will be exposed by my boy from Urry, and Hopkins who is the biggest wimp of them all (literally) will be shut down by #41..... and when I say shut down I mean he will literally sing R Kelly's remake "Piss on you" to Hopkins as he throws at least one down on his face..... get ready for some nut juice

The Line remains at Amherst +2

                    Hope once again is going to be the clear favorite because I am NAstradmos and they will win by 6. Then win the national title.... any questions or comments will be unneccesary at this point since this post exceeds the intelligence of any other post on this site

your intelligence is amazing...what insight.

HaHa,

You better get a refund on that crystal ball.  Amherst vs. Wash U - Tonight - Be there!!

[jumpshot]

My view is Amherst alumni and faculty are likely to push for a return to more standard admission and transfer procedures for athletes as a result of recent media attention challenging current practices and apparent joining of "the athletic arms race." A similiar response took place several years ago.

Disappointing day for some good kids whose hard work may not have been fully rewarded by repeated soft out-of-conference schedules that result in program wins while hampering the ability to be most effective when things are the toughest.

[frank uible]

Firm, final and definitive proof that WashU is superior to Amherst in all respects; and the UAA is to NESCAC.

[nescac1]

Congrats to the amazing Amherst senior class on an incredible run.  And thanks to Wash U. for keeping Amherst and Williams even in the historical final four record book : each with four final four visits, one title, and one second place finish.   May be a little while before either makes a return trip now that Brandeis has loaded up on talent ... 

Surprised at the margin of victory, even if Amherst had a pretty easy road to the title game relative to Wash U. Scary to think how good Wash U. would have been with Wallis in the line-up. 

The rest of NESCAC will be very, very happy to see the Amherst senior class graduate, and of course Olson in particular.   For the first time in years, Amherst does not enter the season with a huge size and talent gap over the rest of the league.  Baskauskas, Wheeler, Meehan, and Holsey are a great top four, but after that the Jeffs have a lot of question marks ... will Bennett live up to all the hype and replace some of the front court production?  Will Carcieri / Wong / Bradley provide another viable guard option to help step into the ENORMOUS void created by Olson's graduation?  And will the hyped incoming frosh be good enough to step into the enormous void of the four big guys Amherst graduates?   

For the first time in years, NESCAC does not appear to have a national title contender next season.  Midd may be the team to beat, and after that it is pretty wide open. 

[eclinchy]

Firm, final and definitive proof that WashU is superior to Amherst in all respects; and the UAA is to NESCAC.

How much can one game really tell you?

Everyone was saying the same thing three months ago, when Amherst lost to Brandeis by 10.  Then what happened last week?  Amherst came back and beat the Judges by 10 right back.

WashU played an outstanding game and an outstanding tournament.  But to extrapolate that and make a statement about an entire program, let alone an entire conference, is a bit hasty.  These are two great teams.  Today, one of them was greater.  Let's just leave it at that.

I'll go back to waxing poetic about WashU now.

--eclinchy, still courtside in a very empty Civic Center writing tonight's championship feature

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I didn't need this game to know which conference was better this year.  Next year may be another matter, but the UAA was incredible this season.

[fpc85]

congrats to wash u. they played a tremendous game. i will post my comments tomorrow night after i drive in from va.